How do you solve a 3,000-year-old murder?Yearning for her former life as an archaeologist, Australian librarian Dr Elizabeth Pimms is struggling with a job she doesn’t want, a family she both loves and resents, and enforced separation from her boyfriend.A royal Olmec cemetery is discovered deep in the Mexican jungle, containing the earliest writing in all the Americas. Dr Pimms is elated to join the team investigating these Aztec ancestors.Triumph is short-lived, however, as Elizabeth's position on the team is threatened by a volatile excavation director, contradictory evidence, and hostile colleagues.Amidst seventeen concealed skeletons, an evolving mental library, and Welsh soup, can Dr Pimms determine cause of death for a 3,000-year-old athlete before being fired?With the archaeological intrigue of ELIZABETH PETERS, forensic insight of KATHY REICH, and comfort of a cosy mystery, Olmec Obituary is the first novel in a fascinating new series...Dr Pimms, Intermillennial SleuthReally cold cases.So, can you solve a 3,000-year-old murder? Help publish the novel, and find out! Why did I write the book?Like many bookworms, the best parts of my childhood were spent in storyworlds created by others. A bad day saw me escape under the covers, with a torch and an orange, to far-away lands where mysteries were solved, hard work was rewarded, and bad guys got their comeuppance.As an adult, I decided to create another place for us to all run away to.They say you should write what you know. As I'm a trained archaeologist, a qualified librarian, and have a PhD in palaeogenetics, I thought – archaeological mystery series, with a librarian protagonist – naturally!Who might be interested in supporting this project?If you like the idea of curling up in an armchair, tea in hand, and immersing yourself in a cosy world of archaeological mysteries, forensic science, librarians, cats and really good food,or,if you'd like to support an indie author/Canberra author/Australian author,please click the little green button!

Risks and challengesThe book is drafted, and has been edited for content by an Olmec archaeologist, a surgeon, and an English lit grad, and proofread by a punctuation pedant. (Whilst a peace accord has been reached on the application of Oxford commas, and only minor skirmishes remain around the use of ellipses, the war over m-dashes may rage throughout the series.)Please note, the book is written in Australian/British English.The size of the book provided may vary, as I intend to use a tracked shipping service which offers different standard packing material for different locations.If you choose a package that includes both ebook and hardcopy, I will be in touch closer to the delivery date to confirm your requirement for either a mobi (for Kindle) or epub/PDF (all other e-readers) ebook version.As at early Dec 2014, an Australian dollar (AUD) is worth about 85 US cents (0.85 USD), 53 British pence (0.53 GBP), and 68 Euro cents (0.68 EUR).Residual risks centre on timing. If nothing goes wrong, the book should be ready for delivery in under two months. I've doubled that, as contingency, and given myself four months to deliver it in all formats.